The Dillon tribune., 1887-05-06
"An experiment in profitable tr,nsgres-

Nc TtuOh ..t''l IA!IlAoIidAAS,
Harknc-a. SAT IN his office in San Fran
c.,r, yit:.n. dispatches to his brokers in
New York ;.aG Chicago, when 2 no'e was
handed l., HIN b. /; messenger.
"Dear SIR" he read. II approach you
with some hesitation. knowing perfectly
the objection which you will naturally
have to entertaining s.e proposition am
about to make to you. ! have no guaran-
tee to offer you that approach you IN
good faith, except the fact that can IN
no way be benefited by the experiment
which propose to make, unless II IS ooso-
lutely what it pretends to be. l nave
made great discovery, which will di-
yalgc to YOU on certain conditions, If you
will grant me an interview Of not Jess than
half an hour Yours respectfully,
"HEINElCI WACETME1sTER.' v
"Tell him to get OUT" said Mr.. Hark-
ness to the messenger, rs he flung the let
ter into his waste paper basket. lie
scrbblel on for a few minutes in silence,
then leaned over to consult the tape upon
which the ''ticker'' behind him was print
ing the market quotations. Suddenly his
face frightened. 'By jiugo!' he en-
claimed; "Inion Pacific at Sc. That's
$500, 900 in my pocket!'
! His humor was much improved by this
piece Of good luck, and as he strobe
through the outer offices he felt the agree
able cXhilaraton OF man ut peace with
the world. When he was uccosted at the
door by /. round sfouk!ered. yol,ngish
looking man, with blonde beard and spec
tac.cs, he did not repeat his Invitation to
"gct out
'Arc you the fellow that wrote the let
ters' he asked.
"With your permission, I am,' the
young man rcplic,, with II marked Ger.
man accent. 81 think you would find it
to your own advantage not !o refuse III"
the Interview
"All right; come in.'
He turned around briskly and passed
through the ground glass door to the inner
office, leaving the German to follow .lr.
darkness was, like most Of the bonanza
men OF the Pacific coast. Of n sangl,nc
and adventurous temperament, but scantily
equipped :;ith education. He was ready
for anything, IN which there was money.
and no proposition in which money was
involved was too daring for his consilcrA-
ton. He WIS yoi,n. and already twenty
ti'nc, :: millionaire. TO his visitor he
seemed the very incarnation Of the hearty.
generous, slam-b.lIg rccklcssness Of the
paciic coast. 1t would have surprised
him, no doubt, If he ia,. suspected that
this spectacl2d, unprctcntiols looking for
cigncr had made complete inventory Of
his characteristics from merely seeing him
in tte street and from hearing the rulnor
Of his daring Inaneuvers on the stock cx~
change.
"Well," darkness remarked. fire
away. I've got just fifteen minutes
'llalf an hour" said the German.
firmly.
"Wcll, fire away, man. Time at this
hour of the day is worth thousand dol
lars q minute
GAN right. Then wilt be brief My
name is Heinrich Wachtmestcr | was
two years ago tutor in chemistry at the
university of Utrecht. In that capacity
was led to make certain. experiments
which resulted in my discovering what |
thousands have sought for in vain--the
secret Of making gold. You open your !
eyes, no doubt. in wonder. So did l. The |
gold was found in my possession. together |
with number Of metallic plates and in
struments, which tho stupi, officials con-
cludeti were intended for coultertcitny.
They would not believe my story, Of |
course, that | made tho gold For couu-
terfeiting was accordingly tried and sen.
fenced to two years. imprisonment. | |
ss~SO JN"V tAO" "CA VIVA uNV uly SEutCuCC.
"YOu are q jailbird, then. It's u pity |
you didn't stay longer"
'Wait a moment and you will see.''
DIR. Wachtmcistor here entered uDon n |
detailed explanation Of his chemical ex.
pertments, declaring that gold had never |
been proved tn bo an element, and that, IL !
1t was compound, there was no reason |
why 1t should not b. made. Science had |
solved many riddles IN modern times |
which to the past werc insOluble, He |
begged Mr.. Harkness to grant him the |
privilege of proving to him and 0vc Of his |
friends, whom Mr.. darkness should him. |
self appoint, that his statements, were |
true. He asked for no salary or emolu-
mel'ts. hut only desired to associate Mr., |
Hardness renowned name with his own
III the enterprise, which, IL he carried 1t on |
alone, would expose him to fresh difficult |
ties with the law. There was such n ring
OF sincerity and carnestness in his speech |
that tho millionaire was more than half |
persuaded. He declared that he would |
let him know in a week whether he could
grant his request, and instantly cable,l to
Utrecht to ascertain whether the story r,-
la'llg to the Imprisonment and trial for
countcrfeiting were true. lie received
the next day cablegram corrolmratiny
the story in all particulars. 4 second an
polntment was accordingly made, and the
test III the preseuCe OF witnesses agreed
upon. Wachtmeister begged rs a favor
that some Of these might be scientific ex-
perts, whose judgment had weight. This.
too, was readily conceded
Ill.
The molnentous day at las; arrived. In
harkness' office half dozen of the
milllonalre's dependents We're gathered,
all pledged to absolute secrecy, on the
penalty of losing their patrons fnvor
Watchmeister arrived ut the appoint,d